Chrono Cross: Je t'aime
by ReiSnatcher
Summary: Serge thought that he would never see any of his friends again, but when Leena finds a strange egg on the beach, and an old friend returns, Serge finds that his adventure has only just begun.
1. Chapter One: Bonjour Encore!

**Chapter One**

"Serge! Wake up! Wake up sleepy head!"

Serge awoke to the sound of his mother's voice calling out from the kitchen. He groaned as he pulled his covers further up over his head, covering his short blue hair. He really did not want to get up. It had been such a nice dream. Sadly, the dream about his friends from the other world had fled him and he could no longer return to the dream world. He through off his covers, swung his legs over the bed, started dressing.

The seventeen-year-old boy pulled on a pair of baggy blue shorts, followed by a black T-shirt. He then pulled on his silvery vest and then tied a large black belt around his waist. He put some socks and boots on, followed by a red bandana with golden sunburst patterns that he covered his short, blue hair with. Pulling on some brown gloves, Serge surveyed himself in his mirror for a second before turning and heading down to breakfast.

Sitting at the table, his mother brought him some hot porridge. However, Serge barely touched it, and just stirred it around and around with his spoon. He wasn't really interested in his food at the moment. That dream had made him depressed. If the princess was to be believed, there was no way for him to return to that other world and see his friends, especially...

"Serge, you need to eat something. These past few weeks you've been acting very strangely," his mother said sadly. "Is it because of that dream again?"

"Mom," Serge said as he looked up from his food. "I told you, it wasn't a dream!"

Serge suddenly felt a hand pressed against his forehead.

"Hmm..." his mother said. "It doesn't feel like you have a fever, and the doctor said that you were just fine."

"Mom," Serge said as he pulled way from his mother, "I'm not sick. Why won't you or anyone believe me?"

"Well, Serge, I'd like to believe you, but think about it. An alternate world? It's just very hard to accept as true."

Serge sighed. He knew how ridiculous his story sounded. If he had not been the one to go through with it all, he probably wouldn't have believed it either.

"Anyway," she said, "Leena is waiting for you on the pier. You really shouldn't keep a girl waiting, you know."

Serge sighed. "Yes, mother," he said. He really hadn't been looking forward to spending time with Leena again. Maybe once he had feelings for her, but that was before he had gone to the other world and met her…

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Serge dug into this porridge. It was useless now to think of such things anyway. The princess had told him that the gateway to the other world was shut and that was that. Then again, she had also told him that he would not remember any of the events that had occurred, and that certainly was false. He remembered every detail of his adventure as clearly as if he had just experienced it. That alone was enough to convince him that he didn't just dream it all up.

_No one from this world remembers anything,_ he thought. _I wonder if anyone from the other world remembers me, or have they all forgotten like the people here? Why am I the only one who can remember?_

He hadn't told many people about his adventure, only his mother, Leena, and a few others in the village. Though when telling the story, he had left out what he had found about what had happened to his father. It still wasn't something that he wanted to believe. He also never told anyone what happened to Miguel, Leena's father, and he especially kept it a secret from Leena. If she ever found out that he had to kill her father, even though the world would have been destroyed if he had not done so, she would never forgive him. Looking down and finding that his bowl was empty, he cleared his place at the table, and then went out the door to look for Leena.

As he stepped out side, he was nearly blinded by the sunlight, and had to hold up his hand to block it. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight outdoors, he walked down the steps that led up to his house. Like all the other buildings in Arni, it was made of a bamboo-like wood and was suspended some distance off the ground. Stepping onto solid ground, Serge turned left and started walking towards the pier.

"Hey Sergey!" a small voice said.

Serge turned and saw Una, Leena's little sister.

"Hello, Una," he said.

"Leena's at the pier, Sergey!" she said. "Are you going to to tell her more stories?"

Serge looked down at Una. "Yes," he said. "Why?"

"She tells me your stories when I go to sleep at night. Everyone seta that it just a dream, but I believe you Serge!" Una explained before looking at Serge with wide eyes. "Did you really turn into a cat man?"

Serge smiled and ruffled Una's hair. He squatted down so that his face was level with hers. "Yes," he said to her, "I really did turn into a cat man."

"And you saw a different me? And a different Leena? And the dragons? And--"

She was cut off as Serge said, "Yes, I really saw all of that." He stood up and looked down into the girls face. "Thanks for believing me, Una," he said. "You're the only one." He ruffled her hair again. "I really didn't think that you of all people would believe me. But now I'd better go and see your sister or she'll be a little angry with me. See you later!" He turned and started to walk down towards the pier.

"Bye, Sergey!" she said, and then suddenly realized that she was acting like a little kid. She tried to sound adult. "You still need to break Leena in!" she said as she waved to him.

Serge turned and waved back before turning towards the pier and breaking into a light run.

Soon a young girl with reddish brown hair came to view. She was sitting on the edge of the pier, looking out at the children swimming in the water. She frequently was stuck with the job of babysitting the children of the village, much to her dismay. It wasn't that she didn't like the children, on the contrary, she loved them, but they can get annoying after a while and it cut down on her free time.

"Serge," she said slowly as he approached. "Did you sleep in _again_?" She turned and looked at him as he sat down beside her.

"Ah, well, I was having such a nice dream," he said.

"Of your other world again?" she asked as she absent-mindedly threw a pebble into the water.

Serge sighed. "Yes," he said a bit sadly.

"You should stop dreaming about that imaginary place and start thinking about what is important! Like komodo scale necklaces, for instance," Leena said innocently.

"It was real," Serge said as he looked into the water.

"Serge," Leena sighed, "think about it. There is no way it could be real. All that stuff that happened to you is just impossible." Leena didn't particularly like Serges dream. It wasn't that she didn't think it was interesting, but more in that Serge seemed to have change since then. She felt like he was farther from her than every before, and it was all because of that stupid dream.

Serge suddenly noticed that Leena was holding something in her hand. He tried to see what it way. "What's that you've got there?" he asked her, pointing to the object she was holding.

Leena looked down at her hand, and then lifted it into the air. "What, this?" she asked as she opened her hand, revealing an intricate piece of metal shaped like an egg filled with holes and twin metal ribbons spiraling around it. Serge's eyes went wide when he saw it. "It's just something I found on the beach," Leena told him as she cupped the egg in her hand. "It's pretty, don't you think?" She turned to look at Serge, to find that he was staring so intently at the egg that he was oblivious to everyone around him. "Serge?"

Leena's voice brought Serge out of his momentary shock. "It can't be..." he said as he continued to stare at the egg.

Leena frowned at Serge. "Are you alright, Serge?"

"It can't be... I don't believe it," Serge said as he slowly stood up, still staring intently at the egg in her hand.

Leena had her finger hooked though one of the ribbons on the time egg and was swinging it it a circle. She looked up at him. "Serge?"

"I can't believe it was just lying on the beach..." he murmured to himself. He really was amazed. He'd been to Opasa Beach time and time again, looking for the wormhole to the other world. He must have been concentrating on looking for the wormhole so hard that he passed right over the egg.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Time Egg!" he shouted at her as he pointed to the object she was holding. "That's the Time Egg!"

Leena's eyes went wide, and stopped swinging the Egg around her finger. She looked down at the piece of metal. "You mean this is..." Finally the full force of this revelation hit her. "No," she said, refusing the concept. "It's not possible."

"I told you!" Serge shouted, ready to dance now that he had proof that he wasn't just making up the story, and maybe, just maybe, the Egg might be able to send him back to the other world.

Leena took a deep breath and rationalized with herself. There really was no way that Serges story could have been true. She was with him on the beach that entire time, and he was only out for a few seconds. It has to be one big coincidence.

"Serge," she said. "You just suddenly fell unconscious on the beach. You were out for less than a minute; I was with you the entire time. You had probably seen this on the beach and your mind put it into your dream."

"Leena," Serge said to her. "I know it's hard to believe, but if you had been there, if you had gone through everything like I did, you would know that it wasn't a dream."

Leena shook her head. She could only think of one way to convince Serge that he was dreaming. She remembered him saying that he used the Time Egg to transport to the place he fought the Time Devourer. If they just went to the Opasa and she let Serge try and use the Egg, he would see that it was all a dream, and he would be able to pay attention to her again, instead of thinking of his other world.

"Alright, Serge. You said that this Egg had some powers to bring you somewhere, right?" she asked him, throwing the Egg up in the air and then catching it when it came back down, convinced that it was just an ordinary scrap of metal.

"Yes," Serge said, nodding, eyes bobbing up and down with the Egg. "It took me to the Darkness Beyond Time, or at least that's what the prophet said it was called.

"Let's go to the beach, and if the Egg doesn't do anything, then will you admit that this was all a dream?" She fixed Serge with her eyes.

Serge thought about it for a while. He had no guarantee that the Egg would work, but he thought, and hoped, that it would. However, if it didn't work, there was no point in continuing to dwell on his other world, since he would never be able to return there. He would never forget that world, or the things that happened there. He could tell that his obsession with the world was bothering some people in the village.

Serge sighed. "I'll never be able to believe that it was all a dream, Leena," he said. She opened her mouth to say something, but he held up a hand to stop her. "However, if the Egg doesn't work, I'll try to put it from my mind and concentrate on here and now."

Leena knew that that was the best she could get out of Serge. In truth, she was a bit worried about him. He had been her friend since childhood, and he meant more to her than just a friend, though she was pretty sure that he didn't know that. She was also a bit jealous that his attention was focused more on his dream world that her. Besides, she felt they weren't as close lately. It was all because of his stupid dream world.

After thinking about it for a while, she sighed, and nodded. "All right, Serge," she said, clutching the Time Egg in her hand. "Let's go."

Serge nodded at her. Then he turned and led the way off the pier, with Leena trailing behind him.

* * *

Before they even reached the beach, Leena was beginning to have doubts as to whether or not Serge had really been dreaming. As they made their way down to Opasa Beach, Serge was fighting off the beach creatures with more skill than he had ever had before. Leena used to watch him train with the other boys in the village, but he had never been this good. He might even be able to best Chief Radius with the skill he was using now. She knew that he wasn't this good before he had that dream.

He was quicker on his feet, and struck the creatures before they had a chance to strike at him. Not only that, but it seemed that one blow was enough to send the creatures running for their lives. The only way his skill could have increased to this extent would be if he had been training for months…

No, it was impossible. She _had_ been with him the entire time he was passed out on the beach. It was simply impossible. He must have done some _extremely_ rigorous training in the past week since he woke up, she concluded. Reassured, she continued following Serge through the stretch of land that led to Opasa Beach.

From time to time, Serge looked at his sea swallow, a weapon similar to a double ended ax or sword, and sighed. He was remembering the Mastermune, the swallow created by the once-tainted, legendary sword, the Masamune. The three beings that formed his swallow had always been by his side since they chose him as their master. Though they rarely spoke to him, they had also been his friends, lost when he returned to his world.

But it wasn't time to worry about that now, Serge thought as he parted a bush in front of him and stepped onto the beach. He turned and let Leena through behind him.

"Well, we're here," Serge said after Leena had stepped through. He walked into the center of the beach, where the portal to the other world led. He didn't particularly want to go back to the Darkness of Time at the moment. He stretched out his hand to Leena. "Leena."

Leena looked at him hesitantly. Despite thinking that she had convinced herself that it had only been Serge's dream, she was afraid that she might be wrong, that he might be taken away from her. If she was wrong… no. She wasn't wrong, so there was no reason to hesitate giving Serge the Egg. But then why did she have this strong sense of foreboding?

"Leena," Serge said again with his hand stretched out. "The Egg."

Leena sighed and then walked over to Serge, and then she dropped the Egg into his hand. _It was only a dream, it was only a dream…_

Serge closed his hand around the Egg. "Thank you." Then he knelt down to where the portal to the other world had been, and then placed the Egg down in the center.

For the first few minutes, Leena felt butterflies in her stomach, and a strong sense of worry, but as time went on, the feeling started recede. Five minutes, ten minutes, a half-hour; the time kept passing and nothing happened. Finally Leena approached Serge with a sigh of relief.

"Serge," she said as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Nothing is happening."

Serge was quiet for a second. All his hopes of seeing his friends again were gone. The Egg didn't work. Did it really all happen? Or were Leena and his mother right? He stood up. "All right," he told Leena, then looked out at the sea. For a while, he just stood there, staring out at the blue expanse, his dark blue hair fluttering in the sea breeze.

Leena watched him for a moment. She could see the sadness in his face, but she knew that it was all for the better. Leena nodded and bent down to pick up the Egg. As she did so, something caught her eye. "Oh? What's that?" she said.

"Hmm?" Serge said, still a bit depressed. "What's what?"

"There is something red out there," she said, standing up and pushing Serge out of the way. She shielded her eyes against the sun and squinted, trying to make out what the red thing floating in the water was. She pointed out to see. "See, Serge? Over there."Serge saw what she was pointing to, but he couldn't make it out either. The both of them just stood there, looking at the red object that was slowly drifting towards them.

"I see some blue too." Leena said as she looked at the object. "Is it some kind of fish?"

"I don't think so, Michael hasn't ever said anything about a fish like that," Serge replied, still trying to make out what the thing was. Michael was one of the best fishermen in the village, and he had caught all kinds of fish. He used to entertain Serge with his fishing stories, but Serge was certain he never said anything about a brilliantly red and blue fish.

Leena squinted even harder, her curiosity aroused by this odd object she and Serge were observing. Slowly, the object came into focus, and as soon as she saw what it was, her eyes went wide, causing it to return to being just an object in the sea.

"Serge!" Leena yelled as soon as she had recovered from the shock of realizing what it was. "It's a person!"

Serge squinted his eyes tighter, causing the image out in the sea to focus, and sure enough, there was the outline of a person lying in the water.

Serge heard a splashing sound, and saw Leena running out into the water; however, her dress was inhibiting her ability to swim. There was no way that she was going to be able to swim out into the ocean and rescue that person. Serge ran up to the shoreline and into the water.

"Leena!" he said. "You stay here! I'll go!"

Leena looked at Serge. "Alright. Go!"

Serge nodded and then dived into the water, swimming as fast as he could out towards the figure.

The closer Serge got, the more worried he became. It looked like the figure was floating face down in the water. Serge swam faster, hoping that he wasn't too late.

Fortunately he then spied a large piece of driftwood that the figure was clutching onto. That meant there was still a chance that the person was still alive. Serge swam faster towards the person.

Suddenly, the person's hold on the driftwood slackened, and Serge saw the figure sink under the water. Feeling panicked, Serge hurriedly dived down underwater, franticly looking left and right for the person.

Light flickered beneath the surface of the water, making patterns on the sandy bottom. Serge kept looking, and his eyes finally found what they sought floating about eight feet bellow the water. Swimming up behind the person, Serge hooked his arms beneath the persons armpits and started swimming towards the surface.

When Leena saw Serge break the surface with the figure, she felt relieved. She ran up to the shoreline as Serge started swimming back towards the beach, dragging the person behind him.

As Serge dragged the figure up onto shore, Leena was there to meet him. She grabbed hold and pulled the person up onto the beach while Serge collapsed, gasping for breath.

Flipping the person over, Leena noticed that it was girl, and a strangely dressed one at that. However, there was no time for that now. She examined the girl and found that her chest was slowly rising up and down. Leena sighed with relief, now that she knew the girl was still alive.

"She's alive!" she shouted to Serge. When she got no reply, she turned around and looked at him. Serge had rising from his resting point on the ground and was standing five feet away, his eyes wide and body rigid, as he stared at the girl on the ground. "Serge! Help me!"

"But that—" Serge tried to say, still wide eyed.

"But what? Serge, she needs help! Now get over here and carry her back to the village."

Serge finally snapped out of his original shock, and went over to the girl. "I can't believe it," he said, but Leena didn't hear him. He had been so panicked that the person might have drowned, that he didn't recognize her as he swam back to the beach.

"Serge! Pick her up! We need to bring her back to the village!" Leena yelled at him.

Serge, having fully recovered from his initial shock, put one arm beneath the girl's knees, and the other beneath her back and lifted her up. Leena came over and looked down at the girls face.

"She sure is dressed strangely," she said. "Come on, Serge. Let's get back to the Arni."

Serge nodded, and was about to start walking, when he felt the girl shift, soon followed by a small groan. Leena turned around at the sound. "I think she's waking up," she said.

Sure enough, the girl's eyes slowly fluttered open, and Serge gazed down into red eyes.

"Bonjour, mon Serge. It'z been a long while, non?" Harle weakly said.


	2. Chapter Two: Oui, Monsieur Lynx!

**Chapter Two**

Leena had gone ahead to get help back at the village. There would be a bed and some hot soup ready for Harle when he got there, and then the chief would come see if she needed any medical attention.

Serge looked back at the girl peacefully sleeping on his back. Her eyes were closed now since she fell back asleep immediately after greeting him. The white face paint that covered her face was un-smudged from being in the water, and the tear and crescent moon design was still painted over the left side of her face, and the black lipstick still covered her lips. Serge looked forwards again and hefted her up farther on his back so she wouldn't fall down, causing the bells to jingle on the end of the twin tails of the wetsuit-like hat the covered her head.

Serge continued walking towards the village, remembering the conversation that ensued after Harle lost consciousness.

_"Do you know this her, Serge?" Leena had said once she had regained from the shock of hearing the girl speak his name._

_Serge had only nodded, unable to take his eyes off of Harle, still unable to believe that she was here._

_"Well, who is she?" Leena said impatiently._

_Serge looked up at Leena, unsure of how she was going to take what he was going to tell her. "Leena," he said cautiously, so as not to alarm her, "this is Harle."_

_"Harle? Who's Ha—?" she abruptly cut off and her eyes widened as she remembered where she last heard that name. She looked down at her. "No," she said quietly. "It can't be." The Egg she could easily pass off, but for one of the people in Serge's dream to wash up on the beach, it was just something that she couldn't ignore._

_Serge could read it all in Leena's expression._

_Confused and disoriented from Harle's appearance, Leena turned to Serge and said, "I'm going ahead to the village so they'll know your coming with… her." Then she turned and ran off of Opasa beach and back towards Arni._

It had taken Serge a while to get Harle on his back, but he finally managed it, and here he was, walking through the woods with the harlequin on his back.

Serge could not comprehend how she had gotten here. It might have been the Time Egg, but then again, Harle was the seventh dragon so she might have some special powers herself. After all, the other dragons had crossed dimensions when the joined to form the Dragon God.

That's right, he had forgotten about that. Harle was the seventh dragon, created in order to aid the other six dragons in escaping from FATE's prison. The dragons: beings of the Earth who were born in order to eliminate humanity from the Earth. Harle had joined with the other dragons in order to complete the Dragon God that tried to destroy humanity. Fear started to rise in him as he became fully aware of who was riding on his back.

_But… Harle was different from the other dragons,_ Serge thought as he recalled the last time he had actually seen Harle. She had been trying to stop Kid from activating the Frozen Flame and releasing the seal on the dragons. He frowned as he continued walking. That didn't make sense. According to Balthasar, the Time Prophet, Harle was created solely to break the seal on the other dragons. He also remembered how she told him that she was sorry when she went up to join the Dragon God. At the time, Serge had thought that she was apologizing for deceiving him, but now he wasn't so sure.

That train of though brought up another question of Harle being here. Logically, she should no longer exist, what with the Serge and his friends defeating the Dragon God. He had been sure that she had been killed, which had given him grief, because even though Harle was an enemy, she had been his friend. She helped him when he was stuck in Lynx's body, though she could have surely stuck with the real Lynx in his body, and she would have been able to get to the frozen flame quicker.

Serge shook his head. Harle was a mystery, and he had many questions that he needed to ask her when she was better, namely how she came to be floating in the ocean by his hometown. Soon enough, he could see the gates that lead into his village.

As soon as the villager's saw Serge carrying a strange girl into the village, they rushed up to him to offer help. Serge refused saying that he could carry her, and he proceeded to his house.

When he arrived, he saw his mother and Leena standing in the doorway waiting for him.

"This way, Serge," his mother said, gesturing for him to bring Harle inside.

As he walked in the door, he glanced at Leena, who still seemed to be recovering from the realization that Serge hadn't been dreaming or making up his adventures. It was a good bet that she hadn't told his mother who Harle was. He wasn't sure how his mother would react if she knew that Harle had joined with the Dragon God that tried to kill him.

"We're going to have to let her use your bed, Serge," his mother said as she led him to stairs that led to Serge's room. "Mine is simply covered with too much junk at the moment, since I was cleaning. I've been busy ever since Wazuki left. Come, we've gotten everything ready."

Serge didn't argue. It didn't matter that Harle was going to be using his bed to get better, even if it meant he'd need to use the floors for a few nights. All that mattered at the moment was that one of his friends was alive, especially one that he had never expected to see again. Besides, his mom never brought up his father's name unless she was worried about something. His father, Wazuki, had vanished ten years ago without a trace, and his mother was devastated. Serge knew what had happened to his father, but he just didn't have the heart to tell his mother what had happened to him.

Several minutes later, Harle was tucked in his bed and sleeping peacefully. His mother had wanted to get Harle out of the clothes she was wearing and had sent Serge out of the room for a moment, but soon gave up trying to find out how to remove Harle cloths, since she could find no button, knot, or zipper on the harlequin's outfit.

Serge was sitting in a chair beside Harle's bed now as he watched her softly breathing. His mind was mulling over how and why Harle was here, and how she could even still be alive. In the end he got no answers, and resolved to ask her when she woke up.

Serge heard the door open, and he looked to his left and saw Leena walk in. She pulled up a chair next to him and sat down, saying nothing.

After a moment, Leena spoke. "Chief Radius will be along in a moment," she said. "One of the kids sprained an ankle, and since she doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger, he'll be along after he finishes with the ankle."

Serge nodded, not saying anything as he continued puzzling over Harle.

"I'm sorry, Serge," Leena said quietly after a while.

"Hm?" Serge said, having been lost in thought as he tried to figure out why Harle was here.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you," she said again.

Serge nodded and said, "It's alright. If it hadn't been me, I probably wouldn't have believed it either."

"So, you're not mad at me?" Leena said, looking at Serge.

Serge put on a confused look. "Why should I be mad?"

"So you're not? That's good," Leena said, feeling relieved.

Serge was confused, and was about to ask why he should be mad again, when the he heard to door to his house open and his mother greet Chief Radius. Serge and Leena got up to go to him.

"Ah, Serge," Chief Radius said when Serge stepped into the room. "I hear that you saved a girl from drowning. Well done, lad, well done."

"Well, Leena saw her," Serge said. "I just swam out to get her."

"That's not the point, boy," the Chief said, waggling his cane at Serge. "The point is that you helped save this girl, whoever she may be. That's something to be proud of."

"Yes, sir," Serge said.

"Now, I'm here to make sure that she's doing all right, where is she?" Radius said as he looked around the room.

"She's in my bed, sir," Serge said to Radius.

"The lead the way, my boy. We can't have the child getting sick just after you rescued her, now can we?" Radius said, pointing to Serge's room with his cane.

"Poor girl, floating in the ocean for who knows how long," he said as he followed them. "We shall so here how well people are treated in our village. Why, we'll have—" Radius stopped dead in mid-sentence as soon as he saw the girl who was lying on Serge's bed, too shocked to even speak.

Both Serge and Leena were looking at Radius, curious as to his reaction to Harle, when their attention was diverted by a groan and jingle from the bed.

Serge looked over and saw Harle slowly sitting up, the bells on the end of the twin tails on her head tinkling. Serge walked over to her and knelt by the bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked her.

Harle looked at him for a moment and was about to answer, when Radius finally recovered from his shock.

"Serge!" he hissed, grabbing the top of his staff and drawing a blade out from it, causing Leena to let out a small scream. "Get away from her!"

Serge turned to look at the approaching Radius with a puzzled look that turned to alarm when he saw Radius's sword. Seeing that Radius's eyes were fixed on Harle, he hurriedly stood up and blocked the village chief's path.

"Get out of my way, Serge," Radius said, as he momentarily shifted his gaze to the blue-haired boy standing in front of him.

Serge shook his head. He was confused as to why Radius had his sword drawn at Harle, but he knew that Harle was week after floating in the ocean and knew that she was defenseless at the moment. He stood there like a wall of stone, refusing to let Radius pass.

"Don't be a fool, boy!" Radius shouted at Serge. "You have no idea who we're dealing with here."

"Do not harm Harle, Radius," Serge said, determined not to lose his friend a second time.

Radius's eyes widened in surprise, partly because at that moment Serge's voice sounded vaguely familiar and sent chills up his spine, though he did not know why, and partly because of the defiance Serge was showing to him, and how he wasn't even fazed by Radius's blade. Although he knew that Serge was brave, this was defiantly not the same Serge he knew a month ago. But Radius could not be deterred, not when the safety of his village was at stake; however, he couldn't harm Serge either. Both he and Serge stood their rigid as stone as Radius tried to figure out a solution to the dilemma.

"Oh, shut up old geezer," a voice suddenly said. Radius and Serge both turned to Harle who was starring at them. She turned to Serge, "Mercy, mon Serge, but I can take care of zis old geezer by myself."

"You!" Radius spat as he glared at Harle. "Where is Lynx? And what have you two done with General Viper?" He shouted at her.

"Ze general?" Harle asked confused. She looked at Serge. "What iz he talking about? I thought zat he was with you last."

It was Radius's turn to look confused as he looked at Serge.

For his part, Serge shook his head and whispered so only Harle could here him. "Not in this world," he said. "The general has been gone for five years here."

When he finished whispering, Harle looked at Serge confused for a moment before she suddenly realized what he was talking about and clapped her hands together.

"Ou la la! How silly of moi!" she said. Then she looked back at Radius. "Ze general vanished into ze Dead Sea."

Radius's hand clenched harder on the hilt of his sword. He had always known that it had been Lynx and his second in command, this harlequin sitting before him, who had murdered General Viper.

"Where is Lynx?" he shouted at her. "Tell me! Now!"

"Tsk, tsk," Harle said as she she folded her arms and shook her head with her eyes closed. "If you want to know zat, you have to ask nicely."

Radius's eyes were about to leap from his head at this request as he started advancing on Harle, only for Serge to once again step in front of him. Radius turned his glare to Serge. "What are you doing, Serge?" he shouted at him. "Most of the misery El Nido faces is because of her and her bastard leader, Lynx!"

"I know that," Serge said, still holding his ground.

"Then why do you protect this… this monster!" Radius shouted as he stamped his foot, angry at Serge from preventing him to interrogate the harlequin.

"Because, Radius," Serge said in that voice again, causing Radius to shiver, "she's not a monster. She's my friend."

"Aw, mon Serge," Harle said, batting her eyelashes at him, "you make me blush."

As shocked as Radius was at Serge's statement, he knew that his true enemy was Lynx, not his second. So, closing his eyes and calming himself, he said, "Please tell me where Lynx is."

"Oh, Monsieur Lynx?" Harle said, acting as if she hadn't been expecting the question. "Why, he iz right here!" She clutched onto Serge's arm.

Everyone stared at Harle, including Serge.

"Um, Harle?" he asked.

"Oui, Monsieur Lynx?" she said as she looked up at him.

"I'm Serge, remember?" he said a bit worriedly, wondering if Harle had inhaled a bit too much water while in the ocean.

"Oui, mon Serge," Harle said, nodding, "but you are also Monsieur Lynx."

Now everyone was confused: Serge, Radius, Leena, and his mother, who had entered the room sometime ago.

Radius's mind was racing. There was no way that Serge could be Lynx! He was too young, and besides, Lynx had been a demi-human; a half-cat. There was absolutely no way! But Serge's voice, it had sounded an awful lot like…

After a long moment of silence, Serge said, "I think Radius means the Lynx that was with you in Viper Manor."

Radius idly wondered how Serge knew that Harle and Lynx had been in Viper Manor, but the thought was pushed from his mind by the next thing Harle said.

"Oh!" Harle said, now understanding what was being asked. "Zat Monsieur Lynx! Serge killed him."

Radius's jaw dropped. He tried to speak, but all that came out was incoherent babble as he tried to get his thoughts together. Finally, he closed his mouth, and then opened it again and said in a very shocked voice, "_You killed Lynx?_"

Serge nodded at Radius. "It's a long story."

"Oui, oui," Harle said. "Mon Serge killed Lynx and freed ze world from his control," she said. "Zen, he saved ze human race from ze dragons, and zen he saved ze Earth from ze Time Devourer!"

Any lingering doubt that Leena had about Serge's dream being reality was gone. If this girl knew what Serge had done as well, then it must be true. Marge, Serge's mother, was looking at the girl in shock, thinking the same things that Leena was at the moment.

"But, but how could you have defeated Lynx?" Radius asked, still not able to accept what he was hearing. "Even I couldn't—"

"You, old geezer?" Harle said with a small laugh. "You are no match for Monsieur Lynx!" she said as she pulled Serge closer to her.

"How is this possible?" Radius said, and he started pacing back and forth. "There is just no way that this could be possible Unless…" Radius suddenly stopped pacing and turned to Serge. "You weren't dreaming?"

Serge's eyes widened in surprise. "How do you know about that. The only ones I told were Leena and—"

"—your mother," Radius finished. "She was concerned about you and told me about your dream. I had thought that it was just a coincidence that Lynx showed up in your dream, since you were attacked by that panther when you were young. I never imagined…" Suddenly he stopped and remembered who it was clinging onto Serge. "You," he said. "I cannot let you harm our village, so you must leave, or—"

"Taisez-vous! Old geezer," Harle said. "I have no intention of harming zis village. Monsieur Lynx would not like zat."

"She wont harm the village," Serge said to Radius.

"How can you be sure?" Radius said. "After hearing about your dream—no, it wasn't a dream, but whatever it was—I'd think that you would know how treacherous she can be!"

Serge felt Harle loosen her grip on his arm. He looked down at her and found he staring at the sheets in her lap. "Harle?" he asked.

"I tried to stop her, Monsieur Lynx," she said to him. "But zen ze seal was broken and zey made moi go to them." She looked up at him. "I will go if you want moi to go, Monsieur Lynx, I will."

Serge looked at her for a second, brooding over everything she said. She really had tried to stop kid from breaking the seal, he now knew.

"You can stay, Harle," he said gently to her.

She smiled, and then clutched onto his arm again.

Serge was a bit uncomfortable with her clutching his arm like that, but it couldn't be helped at the moment. He turned to Radius. "She wont harm the village," he said again.

"Zat's right," Harle said. "Besides, I am no match for Monsieur Lynx. I couldn't harm zis village if I wanted to."

Radius looked askance at Harle, and then at Serge. It was hard to believe that the boy that Radius had thought he knew so well was more than a match for Harle, let alone Lynx. But if Serge's dream was true… then it might be possible.

"Alright, fine," Radius said. "But if she even lifts a finger against this village, I won't let even you stand in my way." He stared at Serge.

"Ha! You are no match for Monsieur Lynx, old geezer!" Harle said, starting to lean on Serge now.

Leena had been standing over in the doorway, and she had been become increasingly irritated ever since Harle clutched onto Serge. She also glared at Harle every time she said Serge's name like she was his lover or something. She didn't like how Harle kept flirting with Serge, even if he was too dense to notice it. Serge was supposed to be hers, and she wouldn't let Harle take him away from her.

"His name is Serge, not Monsieur Lynx," Leena said to Harle.

Harle looked at Leena for a moment. Then she turned to Serge. "Zis iz your Leena, oui Monsieur Lynx?"

Serge nodded at Harle.

"So you are Leena," Harle said, still not letting go of Serge. "Monsieur Lynx often spoke about you while I was traveling with him."

Harle was staring straight at Leena, and the reddish-brown-haired girl could feel the unspoken message. It was a challenge, and the prize was Serge.

"I told you, his name is Serge, not Monsieur Lynx," Leena said again.

"Non, Serge iz Monsieur Lynx," Harle said as she looked directly at Leena.

"I'm confused," Radius said. "Do you call Serge Lynx because he defeated the real Lynx?"

"Non. You are tres bete, old geezer. Mon Serge has always been Monsieur Lynx."

"What?" Radius said, even more confused that before.

"Mon Serge iz a Lynx."

"Huh?" everyone said as they looked at Harle.

Radius looked at Harle. "Serge is a person, not a Lynx," he said, thinking that the harlequin might have flipped.

"Don't you know?" Harle said, giving them all confused looks.

"Know what, Harle?" Serge asked, though he felt and odd sense of foreboding as he asked that question.

Harle looked at them all. "Zat, of course, mon Serge iz ze heir to ze Lynx family. He iz ze son of ze old Monsieur Lynx!"


End file.
